At Chester races for a stag do. Three of us picked a horse in the second last race because of its name. It won. We won around £100 which would have done very nicely for the beer kitty in Liverpool that evening. But no, we threw it all on the favourite in the last. And lost it all.

I had a free £5 bet around world cup time. The opening match was France (the current holders) vs Senegal. I reckoned that the French would come out a bit cocky and stuff it up. Everyone else thought I was bonkers. Anyway, £5 duly placed on Senegal to win at 8/1.

90 minutes later, the rest of the office looked sheepish and I looked cocky as I went to pick up my £40 winnings

EDIT: also remember the strange events at Newmarket once. Near the end of the night a crips fiver literally blew into me on the wind. No visible owner was around, so I stuck it on a random horse in the last race - it won and the winnings paid for the whole evening

I'm still a few hundred up on the bookies. Haven't had a bet since 2008 when I successfully predicted team GB to do a lot better at the Olympics than the bookies reckoned (I also found a bet with a couple of different bookies where I made money if Ben Ainslie won and also made money if Ben Ainslie lost - that was a bit scary as I had to put on large amounts to win anything significant, and in theory I'd have lost the lot if he didn't make the start line). Thankfully I didn't go with my gut feeling that we'd do worse than expected last year. Quite tempted by 9/2 on Australia for the Ashes, but I think I'll resist.

I don't really gamble but I usually stick a few quid on the National, based mainly on how much I like the names. Decided in 2009 not to bother as there was no way my favourite-named horse would achieve anything at 100-1, Mon Mone... Ah well.

Having watched the 'gambler' m8's my dad had (dad never did): beg, borrow and steal money, to fund their habits, it's one past times I will never be bothering with.
One guy in particular jumps to mind, the guys 60 (ish), doesn't have a penny/lives on benefits, but still believe he will win big one day.

I used to spend a lot of time in casino's and I guess I was what you would call a 'professional gambler'. My winnings set me up for life, but I had the sense to walk away.

I spent many years as a casino worker, love to know how you were a proffesional playing table games ?
There's only one way to gain a % advantage and no casino I worked in would let you play long enough to set yourself up for life.
And if you weren't just being lucky, why walk away ? You could still be raking it in.

There's only one way to gain a % advantage and no casino I worked in would let you play long enough to set yourself up for life.

Um I didn't say I made it all in the one sitting or in the same casino. In terms of 'professional' I meant that was how I earned a living, I didn't have any professional qualifications and I didn't wear flamboyant clothing.

Oh and this wasn't in some shit hole casino in some shit hole town in the UK.

Last time I was in a casino was over 20 years ago and it cured me for life. I'd always had reasonable luck, mainly playing blackjack but this time I thought I'd be clever and double up on roulette, staking a fiver as a starter on red and doubling if I didn't win.

Simple plan to win a fiver every few spins.........except..............

..............4 spins later, all off which were black, I put my £80 on red and what came up just to rub it in.... a big fat 0. Never again

I remember one of my mrs' friends got a new bloke, apparently he described himself as a professional gambler. What this actually meant was that he spent his dole money down the bookies. online casino now I come to think about it.

I was once in a bookies 3 or 4 years ago, waiting for some mates to place bets and I'd been saying I fancied Wigan to beat Chelsea 3-0, no idea why, I just had a feeling. Odds were something like 66/1 and I had a tenner in my pocket. To cut a short story shorter, I bottled it and Wigan won. 3-0.

There's exceptions of course, our "professional gambler" here for instance, but they're very very much the minority. A guy I went to college with used to get his lunch money every day from a single credit in the quiz machine in the café we went to (turned out, his dad was involved in writing the software for it). But in the long game there's almost always only ever one winner.

I throw the occasional quid into a quiz machine, a lottery ticket or a sweepstake. I rarely win anything, but that's not really the point for me. The quiz machines are like video games where you pay to play, the lottery is a way of donating to charity, and work sweepstakes are about taking part in something, it's a bit of fun. I've played "high stakes poker" with friends, where if you're very lucky and clean up you might come away five quid up at the end of the night.

Unless you're very very good, and most people aren't (though many think they are), it's a mugs' game for anything other than the casual quid IMHO.

I remember one of my mrs' friends got a new bloke, apparently he described himself as a professional gambler. What this actually meant was that he spent his dole money down the bookies. online casino now I come to think about it.

True, but I've never actually placed a bet on football (or anything other than friendly poker games at mates houses) so im prety sure I'd still be up! Wether or not I would have gambled again if I'd have won is a different matter!

an aquataince likes to gamble, early 50's, tradesman lives week to week, been bankrupt,occaisionally has a pocket full of notes but not that often. No assets to name bar an old car. Now it may not all be gambling but i'll give it a miss

Mrs mw won over £1,800 for a stake of just over £6 (it was the loose change left at the end of the night). Picked 3 horses in the last race at random and had an accumulator on them coming in positions 1,2 and 3. Which they did.

1) Pick six lottery numbers
2) Do not buy a ticket
3) Enjoy the drama of watching the live draw, just in reverse from the usual way.

You're odds on to 'win' the £1 that you didn't spend on the ticket, with a very, very slim chance of 'losing' several million if your numbers do actually come up.

I've done this quite a few times, the most I've ever 'lost' was a tenner. Particularly good with a room full of mates as you are the only one generally going "Yes!" a lot as numbers you didn't pick come out of the machine.

Made a few hundred quid from matched betting using free bets the online bookies give you plus a few quid here or there on the football, but never placed any bets bigger than about £5 here or there. Play the lottery very occasionally as well, but only a few times every year, just for shits and giggles.

Card counting is the only way to beat the casinos, made a programme with Dominic O Brien the world memory champion. He told a great story of him doing a show to make a million dollars from a hunderd dollars in Nevada.

He starts off in tiny little casinos using his card counting technique, with in a week he was up to 100,000 bucks and the final of the show was meant to be him in Vegas. He wasn't allowed to set foot in a casino in Vegas, word had got around and the owners basically banned him. His producer was making all sorts of noises untill he was told to shut the f*** up or pay the consequences. Nasty horrible people in a nasty horrible world.

I think the lottery is a scam, never met anyone who has won big or even come close.

Only ever place a couple of pounds on 1st try scorer during the 6 Nations or World Cup. And then only if I'm watching it in the pub with some mates. One of us usually wins enough for a round.

Quite a few years ago a works Xmas party was held in a casino. Everyone was give free chips, about £50 worth IIRC, to play the tables. The only 5 minutes I've ever spent in a casino. It's an exercise in handing money to the owners.

My colleague's husband is a former bookmaker. They like to travel to all the main horse racing events, they never win big, never lose big, and generally enjoy themselves. Sometimes they make a profit after paying for the hotel and meals, sometimes not.

All things in moderation, including gambling, I guess (although I don't gamble), except cycling of course.

Paid for my Dualit toaster with an F1 bet. Petrov to have a top 3 and there he was. Might have been the opening race that season I think. Have made a few since with mild or no success, I can still make toast though!

Spent my childhood through to mid 20s living, working and managing in pubs clubs and casinos..............enough tales of woe to tell on the human condition let alone gambling seen everything from the betting on two ' insert flies to goats to raindrops' to stand on a hanky and try and hit me to high card stakes

simple the house will always win....rare for folk to walk away especially the professionals, card counting attempts used to result in bannings or worse depending where you were

simple plan is if you want to have a laugh go to set your stake and walk away when that has gone however most people will break the rule, not walk away or feel gutted when they have lost

bet that I placed that worked france to beat all blacks semi final 1999